Australian Company Pact Group Gets Grant Of $3 million For Recyclable Food Packaging Plant | Valdamark

The Australian government has granted $3 million to a company looking to develop New Zealand’s first ever 100% recycled food packaging plant!

The bold commitment from the country’s Ministry of the environment;s waste minimization fund. The firm receiving the funds is Australian based Pact Group.

The fund consists of between $10 & $15 million a year but this grant is by far the biggest to be awarded this year.

This first round of funding will enable the company to develop new plants that process only 100% recycled food packaging. They will also add this to their existing site in Auckland.

Think plastic meat trays that you find in supermarkets as well as all the usual bakery pet/alu/pe bags and deli packaging trays.

Pact Group already has about 110 operational sites in over 15 countries. Mostly in Australasia and South East Asia.

Their workforce is about 6000 strong and they remain the largest manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging in Australasia.

Eugenie Sage, the New Zealand Environment Minister said the funds would enable the processing of materials that are usually discarded into forms that can be recycled and used locally. This is instead of it being packed into a cargo ship and dumped in Asia!

I do not think it is a coincidence that this moves comes just in time following China’s announcement that their National Sword Initiative comes into full effect.

National Sword aims to drastically reduce the amount of waste landed on China’s shores by simply not allowing it.

This will inevitable drastically change the way the west in general processes its waste. More ‘in country’ solutions like this one will inevitable be introduced in the coming years.

Interestingly the $3 million sum only covers about half of the cost of a new plant. PACT Group are covering the rest.

This would appear to be the best model going forward in order to address the challenge. It is not just industries job to pay for it! Goverment should contribute too as well as we are already paying for it to an extent. You,me and everybody. In taxes!